A Food Blog for all Seasons

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

When you see fresh red bell peppers go on sale at the market or grocery store, it’s a sign from the Food Gods that you need to make this delicious Roasted Red Pepper Soup. Typically, red bell peppers are the most expensive out of all the varieties of bell peppers. That’s because they are simply the best! They’re sweet, crunchy and refreshing and continue to be a crowd favourite time and time again- just like this summer soup!

Servings: 2-4

Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

4 large red bell peppers

3 tomatoes

1 shallot

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for garnish

1 teaspoon smoked paprika powder

5 large basil leaves, plus extra for garnish

Directions:

Set the oven to broil and place your oven rack near the top of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Slice the red peppers in half, lengthwise, and remove the stem and all seeds. Place them in an even layer on the parchment-lined baking sheet, cut side down. Slice the tomatoes in half and add them to the baking sheet along with the peeled shallot.

Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper over the vegetables along with a drizzle of olive oil. Use your hands to massage the oil on all the vegetables so that they are evenly coated with oil. This will help them char up much quicker.

Place the vegetables in the oven under the broiler for 5-8 minutes or so. Keep your eye on the vegetables- you want the skins of the vegetables to get blackened and char up quite a bit but you also want the flesh to cook through before they burn. My trick is to char the vegetables until they are mostly black, then I turn off the broiler and leave the tray in the oven for an extra 10 minutes to allow the vegetables to cook through.

Once the vegetables are charred and are cooked through, remove the tray from the oven. While the vegetables are still hot, place the red peppers into a medium-sized bowl along with the tomatoes and cover the bowl with a large dinner plate so that the steam does not escape the bowl. Steaming the vegetables will allow the skins to separate from the flesh and will make it much easier to peel. Steam the vegetables for 10-15 minutes, or until they are cool enough to handle.

Gently peel away all the skins from the peppers and tomatoes and discard. Add the fleshy bits to a blender along with the shallot, smoked paprika, basil, and remaining teaspoons of salt and ground black pepper. Add any leftover juices from the bowl and the baking tray to the blender (they are so flavourful!) along with ½ cup of water to thin out the soup. Blend everything together until it is silky smooth.

You can serve the soup as is, cold, or hot. Either way, I like to add a bit more basil for garnish along with a drizzle of olive oil. This also makes a fantastic red pepper sauce for pasta!